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Image credit: JanVogler.com
2/20/2020. Fan made. Our Cloud USA fan art Man of 1000 Faces #2 video. Please enjoy. ❤ ^@@^
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12/3/2015. Clip. Remember when Rain opened his new V-Live Channel looking like a million bucks? So handsome. *sigh* ^@@^
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From donating funds for 50 drinking water wells in Cambodia (2005) to his 2011 BEST Rain concert tour stop in Singapore to World Water Day in Gangnam (2015) to now, Rain’s personal and professional platform has always been “water for all.” Conserving, providing, preserving water and teaching our children to use it wisely is one of the things he’ll always champion.
So, the #Just1Cup campaign by CUCKOO International and its brand ambassador Rain for World Water Day 2020 makes perfect sense, as does its cute but important message. I already only use one cup when brushing. I mean, it is 2020 and it’s not just about us. Future generations need some consideration, don’t they?
In English, with Malay subtitles. Enjoy the cuteness! ^@@^
CLICK image to visit the official campaign page. ^@@^
FULL VIDEO.
Continue reading ‘[6 images][4 vids][Eng] Rain and CUCKOO for World Water Day! (3/6/2020)’
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Our favorite slogan of the bunch is: “Effort is his best adjective.” ❤
Wow. Even as a BLURRRRR… he looks so good. ^@@^
(All images and videos source credit: Libra_Yoyo @ Weibo as tagged.)
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Images credit: GRE-KRITI, courtesy of raincloudworld on IG.
On popular Chinese social networking app Weixin.qq.com today, GRE-KRITI posted a truly warmhearted blog post chronicling their journey with Rain so far and the reasons they value him as their new spokesperson.
They talked about how Rain has worked incredibly hard as an international superstar, and that he is as serious and sincere behind the scenes as he is in front of people on the world stage. They also said that his meticulous work ethic, professional attitude and warm kindness are reasons he still has so many fans, including young women — it’s more than just his gorgeous appearance.
They hit the nail on the head.
Continue reading ‘[6 images][making of] Behind the scenes: “Stay tuned, GRE-KRITI and Rain.” (2/23)’
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The slogan says, “Because I love you, [I’ll give you] La Cloud.” So cute. ^@@^
Our game changer Rain and his wife, beloved actress Kim Tae Hee, have thrown their hat in the ring for Bodyfriend Korea‘s trademark brand La Cloud. (The “Italy” part refers to the product’s Italian materials and craftsmanship.) Finally! We knew it would happen at some point, because these two are waaay too smart to not combine their top couple marketing power at least once.
The only question here was “when.” 😁
Such exquisite CFs. 🥰 Sooo warm and cute. And La “Cloud”? It’s like fate, haha!
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We’re still at the beginning of Year 2020, and Rain has another brand ambassadorship under his belt! He is now also representing NINEDOT Treadmill Fitness Brands and is helping roll out their new, innovative product. Just like that, our Cloud USA Facebook banner and my Twitter banner are obsolete! ^_^
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All screen caps in this post by Cloud USA. ^@@^
2/10/2020. GRE-KRITI representatives posted a spoiler video with more of Rain’s photo shoot highlights on their Weibo accounts today. Hooray! I can’t wait to see how they’re going to revamp their website and see his new CFs. ^@@^ (Video credit: 格丽缇股东合伙人妞精灵 @ Weibo.)
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1/29/2020. News outlets have reported that Rain and Kim Tae Hee donated ₩100 million KRW (roughly $100,000 USD give or take, depending on exchange rates) on January 14 to the Archdiocese of Seoul. The donation was delivered by Rain’s mother in law and, according to the couple’s wishes, the donation will be used to help single mothers and their children. The donation is in the name of their second daughter, who recently celebrated her 100th day. In 2017, the couple also donated the same amount to the diocese in the name of their first daughter to mark her 100th day, also. The news photo below shows Rain’s new sister-in-law (the pro golfer who recently married actor Lee Wan, Tae Hee’s brother). As expected, KTH and Rain kept things low-key by not showing up and not letting reporters make it all about them. *thumbs up* ^@@^
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1/22/2020. Rain took to his Instagram and Chinese TikTok to let us know a project had started — it turned out to be his GRE-KRITI filming! And we also got a quick look behind the scenes from A Great Day brand agent Sung Cheol Park, who posted: “At the end of many twists and turns, GRE-KRITI and Rain’s filming has been completed. Thank you to Jung Jihoon for being a wonderful model and showing a deep caring for his work!” Aww ❤ ^@@^
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A new movie, Chiefs of Namsan, premiered yesterday in Korean theaters, but the VIP premiere happened on the 20th at the Seoul COEX Megabox and Rain walked the Red Carpet in support of the film. The Korea Dispatch called our fashion icon an “A-class visual” and, yes, they were right.
His kind of magnificence does not grow on trees, folks. 🙂 ^@@^
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Yet another high-end cosmetics and skincare brand has jumped aboard the Rain train! Rain is now brand ambassador for GRE-KRITI (I’ve seen a Hong Kong website and a Canada one, too).
I don’t think these images are magazines… I can’t find any evidence that they are (they seem to simply be creative ads). If anyone knows, please chime in! A rep on Weibo has also posted about Rain being hailed as the hardest-working all-around artist in the world, and that they will work hard alongside him.
Album art in this post is from co-founder Terri’s Eternal Rain album. ^@@^
There has been an influx of new Clouds and new Rain fans, and Rain has mentioned working on new music. Don’t know if he is or not, but now is a great time to go all the way back and get folks up to speed on his albums, from 1998 to 2017!
Welcome back! Hope everyone had a nice, cozy holiday.
My fifth installment of this series celebrates the time when Rain took a tiny detour out of Korea and dropped his first Japanese album Eternal Rain in September 2006, in Japan. That’s going to take a little ‘splaining because Eternal Rain is technically his second album released in Japan.
Okay. In my mind, a Japanese album has Japanese songs on it. Songs sung in Japanese, of which Eternal Rain has plenty. Of its 12 tracks, 9 are in the Japanese language, 2 are in Korean, and one is in English. Whereas what is considered Rain’s first Japanese album, RAIN: Early Works, released in Japan in December 2005, is comprised of 16 songs from his first three Korean albums. With not a Japanese song on it. Which is fine, nothing wrong with that. It’s simply my opinion that for an album to be classified Japanese, it needs that language on it.
I say Eternal Rain is his first Japanese album, and RAIN: Early Works is his first album released in Japan. My story, sticking to it. 🙂
FYI: First release “Sad Tango” and songs “Free Way” and “Move On” were released as singles ahead of the album.
SCROLL DOWN ↓ this post to see MORE album art and my compilation of songs, MVs, fan mades, and TV appearances (credited as tagged). Please enjoy! ^@@^
» You can visit the previous holiday Open Thread HERE and see the link to re-visit Rain’s third album It’s Raining. By the way — have you 10th Cloud sisters left a message for Rain on his officially sanctioned fan club on Naver today?
ANNOUNCEMENT: We noticed many pictures on our homepages weren’t loading anymore… As it turns out, our web host has moved to a new platform and we need to do the same (follow them). Co-founder Terri is working hard behind the scenes to rebuild our site and move it to the new web location. Please don’t worry — our blog is not affected and our new site will be up and running smoothly soon. PLEASE PARDON OUR MESS OVER THERE! 🙂
» Cloud USA disclaimer. READ it. We’re 10th Cloud term members now, but the same still applies.
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Hi, all! Rain has started the new year at a full run, as always. No surprise at all!
Global corporation and No. 1 healthy home appliance brand CUCKOO International has named world-renowned Korean singer-songwriter and Hallyu star Rain and Malaysian queen of pop Dora’ Sri Siti Nurhaliza its brand ambassadors for the year 2020, representing their #SAMASAMA Division (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Dubai). CUCKOO has blasted this news just about doggone everywhere and, personally, I think it is truly a smart move on their part.
With Rain having two daughters now (a 2-year-old and a 4-month-old) and Siti Nurhaliza having a 1-year-old daughter, a massive chunk of CUCKOO’s consumer base identifies with them right away — parents. Parents concerned about the water their children drink, the air their children breathe, the food their children eat, the cleanliness of their family’s home. This is a huge problem in some areas. Residents have posted about how they can’t drink water out of the tap or how the outdoor air is so polluted, they worry about the air in their houses. CUCKOO is the biggest manufacturer and seller of these appliances across Asia because it’s capitalizing on those concerns big time.
You can clearly see their proposition to consumers (Why you should buy our products?) in their Behind The Scenes announcement and promo film. A Korean pop king and Malaysian pop queen with new families both choose CUCKOO. How can you go wrong? You can’t! 🙂
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1/2/2020. January 2 was the 6th anniversary of the 2014 release of Rain’s 7th full length album (8th album overall) Rain Effect. Needless to say, we celebrated all over our social media. ^@@^
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It says I voted! — Stephe ^@@^ (from my phone)
Rain and leading lady Lim JiYeon have been nominated for their work in TV drama Welcome 2 Life, as well they should. The show wasn’t #1 in its time slot for its entire run for nothing — they and the plot and the cast were just that good!
Fictional couple “JaeSang” and “SiOn” are up for Best Couple in the 2019 MBC Drama Awards. International and Asian Clouds and fans are voting for them 3 times once a day on TikTok until 12/30, easy-peazy and in UNDER A MINUTE. For real! Please join us, because they truly deserve our support in this. Instructions are below. (HUGE thanks to _hannahssi_c and raincloudworld on Instagram!)
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12/20/2019. Handsome Rain was spotted at the Shinsegae Duty Free mall (wow, just look at the place!) in the MyeongDong shopping district in Seoul today. The Shinsegae Group also has a new duty free mall in Gangnam District, and online shopping sites in Korean, English, and in Chinese, which might be why the lady with the mic was speaking in what sounded like a form of Chinese and the banners were Chinese as well. Gosh, he looks good! 👀☔ ^@@^ (Images credited as tagged. THX to everyone who shared! 😘)
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12/12/2019. Rain’s longtime FanClub band mate, Kim Hosang, posted this cute pic of them from Shenzhen, China. So cool. We’re glad they remain close after all these years. Thanks for sharing on your Instagram, 호. You look busy, busy, busy! ^@@^ (Image: worldho333 @ IG)
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‘Tis the Season, all!
And because of that, I’m taking a quick break from my Rain Career Music special series (4 installments so far) to celebrate that which we all love — Christmas Rain Spam. We all love us some Rain overload at Christmas and New Year’s, don’t we?
January will start off with the next Rain album installment (#5). For now, though…
Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year to you all. ❤️
SCROLL DOWN ↓ this post to learn more and see my Christmas Rain compilation (credited as tagged). Please enjoy! ^@@^
» You can visit the previous Open Thread and re-visit Rain’s third album It’s Raining HERE. By the way — have you 10th Cloud sisters left a message for Rain on his officially sanctioned fan club on Naver today?
ANNOUNCEMENT: We noticed many pictures on our homepages weren’t loading anymore… As it turns out, our web host has moved to a new platform and we need to do the same (follow them). Co-founder Terri is working hard behind the scenes to rebuild our site and move it to the new web location. Please don’t worry — our blog is not affected and our new site will be up and running smoothly soon. PLEASE PARDON OUR MESS OVER THERE! 🙂
» Cloud USA disclaimer. READ it. We’re 10th Cloud term members now, but the same still applies.
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Last Monday, 11/25, Ninja Assassin celebrated its 10th anniversary! The film that made Rain the FIRST Korean national to land the lead role in a Hollywood movie premiered in 2009 and caused quite a stir in many circles and demographics, oh yes.
Seems like just yesterday, here in Metro Atlanta, my friend and fellow martial arts aficionado Darrell said to me in an autumn 2008 E-mail, “Hey. Did you hear about this new movie being filmed, Ninja Assassin? It’s starring some K-Pop singer named Rain. What do you think? Should we be excited?” This was how I found out about the upcoming movie and Rain’s role in it.
Rain and his movie billboard at Times Square in late 2009. So proud! ^@@^
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That means it was all him. Incredible.
And PLEASE, don’t get it twisted. Dancers do have expiration dates, but there is none on vocal cords. There will always be Rain music. This man will never stop singing and recording. Trust!
Read on to also find out about his plans and goals for the future. 🙂
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) — Having entered the K-pop scene as a teenager, Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, has shown no lack of stamina so far while staging physically challenging pop performances on the K-pop scene.
Even given Jung’s unusually well-built physique, filming “Uhm Bok-dong,” a new drama film where he plays the main role, was a consuming physical challenge like never before.
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You know what time it is! Grab a fork and your favorite dressing, toss well, and enjoy! ^@@^
6/10/2019. Fan cam, English. A truly endearing video from Rain’s North American fan meeting, in Vancouver, Canada. Included: Him and his birthday cake (tastes salty… oh, sorry, that was my finger LOL) and a fan cracking him up so much that he had trouble singing “Love Story.” Aww! ❤ And his VOICE. So. Pretty. ^@@^ (Source and credit: Alice Cho)
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Dazed, confused, and trying to understand Tumblr’s problem. ^@@^
Imagine — you open up your Tumblr one day to see what folks have posted and to check your feed. Without warning, weird red and blue banners are in your face, screeching at you, announcing you’ve been FLAGGED for ADULT CONTENT.
This happened when I went on our Cloud USA Tumblr some months ago! Oh, it’s true!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
In a BOX!
We’re sending a box of Christmas gifts to Rain this year. Do you know what would make that even more special? If the box was also filled with Christmas and New Year’s greeting cards from Rain’s Clouds, from North America and around the world.
Things have been quite trying this year for some, and tight and lean for us all. If you can’t afford a gift for Rain, you’re not alone. We collected some nice things for him over the summer and fall, for fans who want to gift him but for whatever reason, can’t. So, send your Christmas greetings! Send your New Year’s greetings, so we can put them in the box.
We will be paying the postage to R.A.I.N. Company. However, if anyone would like to help us out with that, we’re happy to take donations. Just let us know and we’ll tell you how.
Send your cards (UNSEALED) and/or postcards to:
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As we understand it, at the 24th Consumer Day Cultural Entertainment Awards yesterday, Rain received the Actor of the Year Award as voted on by the public. Congratulations, Rain! Korean consumers loved Welcome 2 Life. That’s one more for your display shelves!
The event took place at the COEX Auditorium in Samsung-dong, Seoul. ^@@^
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Image credit: @hanryu_pia Twitter.
Or Hallyu Pia. Or Korean Pia, depending on who’s translating. And that’s okay, because all three translations mean the same thing. This is a Japanese magazine that serves up what’s hot in the Hallyu Wave (Korean Wave) that’s still rolling across Asia.
According to the product description on order site Pia Book, cutie patootie actor Yeo Jin Goo is on the front cover; K-Pop group ATEEZ is on the back cover. Rain has an interview in the magazine and is also part of a postcard sheet.
Continue reading ‘[images] Rain in Japanese magazine 韓流ぴあ (Hanryu Pia) for December 2019. (12/1)’
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11/20/2019. Magic Show (魔力SHOW), run by Trendy Man Group out of Sanya, China, has invited Rain to their summit from November 29 to December 1. Unfortunate fact #1: This will be a private event.
Unfortunate fact #2: What with the language barrier and certain parts of the Magic Show site banned to folks outside of China, I cannot get a good bead on exactly what this thing is. Seems like a high-end health and beauty line, and I see where Rain has thrown his hat in the ring as far as their collagen acai drink goes. Huge thanks to Shihorain for pointing me in the right direction… *thumbs up* ^@@^ (Images source credit: mlshow.net)
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His name plate says, “Uhm Bok Dong❤️Rain.” 🙂 ^@@^
5/15/2019. Some of you recall how, while Rain was filming movie Endless August and was brand ambassador to several conglomerates in China, a ban on Korean stars performing in China took effect because of political difficulties. This Arirang news report about the 2019 Asian Culture Carnival in Beijing talked about how Rain is the first Korean star invited to perform in China since the ban, and how such a high profile event could mean the ban is over. Wow… ! ^@@^
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3/29/2019. Aaaah, so cute! As I understand it, this young lady — who was a fan 10 years ago when she was very young — saw Rain, took a chance, and asked him for a selfie with her. He was so friendly and polite, she was thrilled. What a lucky duck! ^@@^ (Images credit: FRESHFRANKIE @ sina weibo & @ IG)
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2002. Clip. In an incredibly special Blast from the past, adorable 비 introduces himself and his debut album n001. I so love this! I’m so in love! HUGE thanks to RAINCloud Europe, Harudo11, and Kamila625 for their hard work on this gem. *muaw* ^@@^
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2/20/2019. Intro. Hot off the heels of modeling BOY LONDON’s 2018 Fall/Winter Collection, Rain introduced the fashion house’s 2019 Spring/Summer line as well! ^@@^ (Images credit: boylondon_ltd @ IG.)
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Early this year, Rain participated in promotions galore for his most recent movie 자전차왕 엄복동 (Bicycle King Uhm Bok Dong, a.k.a. Race To Freedom: Uhm Bok Dong). Included in those promos were interviews and photo shoots for several major media outlets.
What we love about these photo shoots:
Continue reading ‘[21 images][1 video] The eyes have it: Rain shows how photo shoots are done.’
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(Image credit: rain_oppa @ IG. He was so excited about being honored with the Asia Society’s 2019 Entertainment Game Changer Award, his head was spinning, haha~ ❤ ^@@^
From the 2019 U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit & Game Changer Awards Gala, in LA. You can see the event schedule HERE, and program book HERE. ^@@^
(Images source credit: asia-society.org/southern-california)
The Rain (Jung Ji-Hoon) during the Asia Society 2019 U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit and Game Changer Awards Dinner at the Skirball Cultural Center on Nov. 5, 2019, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging)
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Whoa. I just checked down the blog — waaaay down the blog — and Rain’s 2019 photo shoots from Esquire Magazine and 1st Look Magazine are not here. How could they be on our social media but not here? Especially when they’re like, the best things since sliced bread?
*shaking my head*
Posting these babies, including Esquire and 1st Look blasts from the past. Right now!! Bad Stephe. Bad Stephe!!!
See them and drool, y’all. ^@@^
Down below: 1st Look, Vol 171 NEVER MIND, March 2019. You can see Rain’s 2011 photo shoot in 1st Look mag — endorsing Adidas 3-in-1 Outdoor wear — HERE and HERE.
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(Image credit: choi_jungmin @ IG. 2/16)
You know the drill. Appearing on the street and shutting it down, having fun with fans and passers-by, then a sit-down with the host, this time to promote movie Uhm Bok Dong. I love Guerrilla interviews (a.k.a. Star Dates). I hope he has more in the coming years! 🙂
I couldn’t find an English-subbed version on KBS World… wonder why? Did I just overlook it? ^@@^
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I almost didn’t share the article below.
Not because there’s anything wrong with it — there isn’t. It’s well written and researched (with the exception of one small error) and gives Rain and his superb acting chops what they deserve. It’s a great write-up!
Cloud USA 